Kingdom Hearts Anime Mix: Tales of the Final Heart - 06 - Shadow Arc
by Geoffro Madness
Summary: Second Prequel to The Light Arc. Join a 10-year old Geoffrey as he journeys through the Orre Region with Leo and Mirei as they seek out the Shadow Pokémon to put an end to Cipher's plans.
1. Prologue

Kingdom Hearts Anime Mix: Tales of the Final Heart - The Shadow Arc  
Written By Geoffro Madness

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - PREVIOUSLY ON KINGDOM HEARTS ANIME MIX - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

_Geoffrey and co. again teamed up with the Disney heroes to take on Xemnas and Xered. They all defeated their main adversaries after a long and exhausting battle, but Sora, Riku, Geoffrey, and Andy got stuck in the Realm of Darkness. After reading a note from Kairi and Chinami, two Doors to Light opened and returned our heroes home. However, Geoffrey's story started even before he even received the Keyblade..._

**Prologue: We As We Once Were**

_WORLD: TERRA TERRACE_

_The Orre Region. A mostly desert continent situated quite a distance from the main continents of Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. So far away in fact, that wild Pokémon don't even exist there. All Pokémon are either caught and brought back by trainers or delivered in via ship. Also, corruption and crime exists on such a high level that the police can barely deal with it. For that reason, certain individuals decide to take matters into their own destinies to settle the region-wide issues. And so my story began after a certain incident in my childhood._

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Three Years Earlier, Sopheria Park; Geoffrey's P.O.V.) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

I was just seven year old when I was given my first taste of the supernatural. It was just another weekend routine when my parents brought both my sister and me to Sopheria Park for a picnic and relaxation. My parents and sister had wandered off for several minutes when it happened.

I was attacked by strange dark beings that I was certain were NOT Pokémon. Despite not being a Trainer yet, I had already begun studying the vast number of magical creatures in our World. As the creatures made a move to attack me, I watched in awe as a girl with shoulder-length blue hair jumped out of seemingly nowhere around the park-now-battleground with such grace. It didn't even look llke as if she was fending off an army of monsters that had appeared out of thin air, but by only using a weird looking sword, defeated all the creatures under a minute as if she had faced only a single opponent.

Once she had vanquished the last creature, the weird sword vanished from my sight in a flash of white light. As I pondered where it had gone, the girl had walked up to me and offered her hand in assistance. I hadn't even noticed I had fallen onto my back.

"Are you alright?" the blunette girl asked me.

I just simply nodded and took her hand graciously, letting her pull me up onto my feet.

"My name is Maia. Maia Gizuhara. Nice to meet ya. What's your name, little one?" she asked.

It took me several seconds to answer, for I was still recovering from the event that had just transpired before my very eyes.

"G-Geoffrey Mac, ma'am." I answered shyly, haven lowered my head not wanting to look into Maia's eyes.

Maia just ruffled my hair playfully. "Hey now, don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel old, and I'm only 18! Just call me Maia, or rather and even better, Maia-sensei!" she said cheerfully with a bright smile that I saw when I finally looked up. Her smile was so sincere, I felt warm inside for some reason.

The blunette teen continued to smile at me as she brought her Bag in front of herself. I just looked on in shock as I watched as the Maia… er, Maia-sensei pulled up from her Bag a glass container, a big one. And inside of it was a Pokémon Egg the size of… well, a pillow. The Egg was red colored with several yellow dots around itself in a messy pattern.

Maia giggled then, having seen my open-jawed expression when I realized just WHAT she had pulled out of her small Bag. How she had fit that big Egg inside a small Bag like the one she had around her waist was beyond me.

She then gave the Egg to me, which confused me so she elaborated. "This Egg contains the baby Pokémon of two of my very first partners. I would like you to take care of it for me. In exchange for taking this Egg, I'll train you in the various Arts I'm familiar with." Maia said as she got into a standing postion.

And after that, I explained things to my family, who didn't believe me about the monsters but were surprised when I showed the Pokémon Egg I had received. The Egg wasn't due to hatch for another year or two, so Maia-sensei had set up a training schedule for me. For the next week, I was rigorously trained in a wide variety of fighting styles that I had never seen or heard of before.

Once the week was over, Maia-sensei had set a magic seal on me to limit and alter my memories of our meeting. She had explained that as I grew up and developed my skills, the seal would weaken and eventually allow me full access to all the skills I had learnted under her tutelage. And with that, she bade me farewell and left, never to be seen again…

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Snagem Hidout, Eclo Canyon: Present, Three Years Later) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

It was het another hot day in the blistering hot region of Orre. What made it worse for the sweating members of Team Snagem was the fact their secluded base had little air conditioning. Many had complained to their boss, Gonzap, only to be thrown out of his office (literally) and being rold to man up and to take it like a man.

ait was near noon, and Gonzap had frisbeed his seventh complainer down the office stairs when anexplosion rocked the entire hideout and caught the attention of every member present. Gonzap and several of his men ran over to the surveillance monitors to locate where the explosion had taken place.

**:-:**

**\- - - - - - - (Bottom-Left Wing, Snagem Hideout) - - - - - - -**

**:-:**

A. young man walked calmly through the hole in the hideout's wall he had made. He had spikey gray hair, wore a dark blue jacket iver a black shirt and pants, with goggles covering his eyes. Alongside him at his knees walked the Dark-type Moonlight Pokémon, Umbreon. As the young man walked across the room he quickly glanced around until he found what he was looking for. A satisfied grin crept onto his face as he attached the strange decice to his left hand. As soon he was finished attaching the device to his hand, both he and his faithful Pokémon ran out the hole they had made post-haste, amd with goodreason.

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Front Doors, Snagem Hideout) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

As Leo and his Umbreon ran out of the hideout, the front doors opened up to reveal an EXTREMELY pissed off Snagem Head Gonzap.

"LEO!" The largely muscular man roared as he and a dozen of his men ran out of the hideout in pursuit of their terrorist.

The now named 'Leo' ignored them as he continued to run across the rocky ground until his vlue oasis came into sight. He had parked his large motorcycle as his means of escape ahead of time. Waiting patiently in the passenger seat was Leo's second Pokémon of the Sun, Espeon. Both Leo and Umbreon hopped onto the motorbike.

As their pursuers gained on them, Leo quickly started up the engine, causing smoke to rise from the three stacks positioned on each side of the bike's frontal area. With the roar of the engine deafening the roars of Team Snagem, Leo and hus two partner rode away from the Snagem Hideout at high speeds.

Gonzap stopped chasing Leo to catch their breath, knowing chasing after a motorcycle was futile. Judt as they were taking in deep breaths, the hideout exploded yet again. Thus time however, the blast was set on the entire building and caused a large plume of smoke to rise into the air as the fire continued to ravage the remains of the hideout.

Gonzap could only clench his fists and clench his teeth in anger as he watched helplessly as one of his best ex-members race off into the horizon.

As he rode off, Leo took off the goggles covering hus eyes and smirked triumphantly to himself. His two partners also gave him sounds of praise.

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Around the Same Time, Pyrite Town) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

A young woman walked around the town's main square watching the various battles taking place between the local trainers. She had orange hair tied up in small twin ponytails on either side of her head, wore a black shirt under a light blue jacket and white shorts.

As she continued to watch the battles, she soon came across a particular battle that several others were also observing. One guy looked kind of shady to her and the other had a weird haircut, but then again, a LOT of people in Orre wore their hair strangely she noted.

As the battle continued, the shady guy eventually sent out a Makuhita. The redhead gasped as she saw it had some strange black cloud or haze surrounding it. She rubbed her eyes for a few seconds. When looked back at the Makuhita to verify, she still saw the mysterious black mist around the Fighting-type Pokémon.

She looked around at her fellow spectators, but no ine else seemed to notice anything out if the ordinary. That us, until the Makuhita began to battle.

Without warning, the dark cloud around the Makuhita seemed to intensify as it charged at its opponent and seemed to perform what looked a Take Down, for it knocked out its opponent in one ferocious slam and seemed to suffer some tecoil damage.

As the trainer recalled his Pokémon and was about to walk away, the Makuhita again charged at him and tried to tackle him. The trainer leapt backwards and glared at the shady guy.

"Hey! Can't you control your Pokémon?!" he shouted at him.

The shady guy just sneered at his opponent. "I can't control his instincts. He just loves to battle, aand it don't matter who."

The girl had seen enough. She was brave, but reckless. Thus was going to be one of those times. She ran over stood between the defeated trainer and the shady guy. "He's right! Call kff your dark misty Makuhita already! You've done enough damage here already!" she scolded.

The shady was surprised that some random chick had the balls (not that she had any) to stand up to him. What confused him jore was the 'dark misty' comment. "Y-you saw the dark aura around my Makuhita?" he asked slowly.

The girl just huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Yes I saw the 'dark aura' as you call it. But that doesn't matter. What matters is you sicked you Pokémon in a trainer! Have you shame?!" Her scolding seemed to have doubled in strength, and the shady guy felt it like a physical blow.

Another shady guy walked up beside the first and looked just as nervous as his friend. "This is NOT good. She can see the auta if the Shadow Pokémon!"

The first one nodded. "We'll need ti report thus to the boss. But first..." He turned to look at the redhead, whi stepped back a few steps. "zwe'll need to take care of her."

The second shady guy nodded in agreement. "Let's bind her up and take her to the boss in Phenac."

As they walked towards the girl, she immediately tried to make a run for it, but was immobilized by a powerful tackle from the Makuhita. As she fell to the ground, the two shady guys quickly gagged, stuffed her into a body-bag, and prepared her for transport on a small truck heading for Phenac City. As she fell unconscious, all she could only think one word.

_'Jerks.'_

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Around the Same Time, Sopheria) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

Sopheria, a city built on the highest technology from many different worlds throughout time and space, although many of its residents remained ignorant or had forgotten their origins. Located in Orre's northeastern area, the city of Sopheria remains isolated and independant from the main cities of Orre, thus using some if its high-tech to terraform the rough terrain of desert into a lush, green, and rich soil area capable of growing plants. This helped Sopheria in being one of the best cities in all of Orre, a utopia oasis in the desert revered by many, and it is here where a certain hero resides.

A young raven-haired boy growled in annoyance at his sparring partner who was taking in deep breaths on the ground in front of him. "Come on, Luke! How can I get better if you can't handle a simple sparring kata?"

The long-haired redhead sitting cross-legged on the ground grumbled in equal annoyance at his opponent. "What's the rush? We're only ten for crying out loud! Why do you want to be a better swordsman anyways. We've been students of Master Van for three years now, and you've gotten better, no doubt, yet you're still not satisfied? What is it you want?"

Geoffrey sighed as he placed his wooden sparring sword on the ground and sat beside his fellow student. "It's not what I want, but what I need because of Maia-sensei." he said softly.

Luke gave him a smirk. "Again with that blunette girl? Maia this, Maia that. She's all you talk about when you talk about improving. You'd think she was your girlfriend."

Geoffrey blushed deeply as he waved his hands frantically in denial. "It's not like that! She saved me from a monster attack three years ago and I wanna become as strong as she was! Besides, she was like fifteen or seventeen at most! If she dated me, it would be a crime!"

Luke chuckled at his fellow student's antics. "You keep telling yourself that. Looks like my pal is in Da Nile."

Geoffrey scowled at the redhead. "Bad pun, pal." A thought occurred as he gained a smirk of his own. "And what about you and Tear, hmm? Decided you're man enough to confess yet?"

Now it was Luke's turn to blush, his redness as deep as hair as he began to stammer in hus own denial. Geoffrey just laughed at him, soon joined by Luke as their laughter echoed around the courtyard they had been trainung in.

Geoffrey was about to start a new conversation when a familiar beeping noise began ringing from his belt. Luke noticed as well and asked, "News update?"

The raven-haired boy nodded and removed his Personal Terminal from his belt holder. Pressing a button, a new report began to play as both he and Luke watched on in intense interest. A woman appeared on the screen as she made a report.

_'__Authorities have made a stunning announcement on the mysterious building that exploded in Eclo Canyon. It was in reality Team Snagem's hideout! For those who don't know, Team Snagem is a gang of Pokémon abductors who have already been marked for arrest countless times. Their hideout was only just discovered due to an explosion that had revealed its location. By the time the police arrived, the ruined building had already been abandoned. The cause of the explosion is under investigation and should become apparent in due time.'_

As the woman finished her report and vanished from the screen, Geoffrey had worried thoughts. Sopheria had remained isolated and safe from the rest of the crimes of Orre, but they still received news as to what was happening on the outside. And somehow, this most recent report had unsettled him greatly. It was like a prophetic dream of something bad was about to happen.

Acting on his instincts, Geoffrey quickly bid a surprised Luke farewell before racing home as fast as he could. Within ten minutes of constant running (which is rather surprising a ten-year old could run for that long), he made it to the Mac-Tsai family estate in record time.

"Hey Ash, I take it Sis isn't around right now?" Geoffrey panted out as he saw his older cousin as he walked into the living room.

His blue-haired cousin just shrugged. "Nope. but I'm sure she'll e around soon." he casually replied, desperately trying to suppress the smirk that was threatening to appear on his lips.

"Thanks." Geoffrey replied as he quickly made a dash for his room, much to Ash's curiosity.

Geoffrey's family had the ability to change back and forth between genders once the proper catalyst is applied to the person, thus the ability is unlocked at different times. The young Mac didn't even know the blue-haired cousin who shared practically the same name as his sister was in fact the same person. In fact, throughout many family reunions Geoffrey remained oblivious that he had met several cousins with the same name or physical features as their birth form, and yes, they were one and the same person that I didn't make the connection. And to think, in seven years he too would share this ironic fate.

Back to Geoffrey in his room, Geoffrey quickly swapped his current clothes for his favorite outfit, which consisted of a plain white T-shirt, short jean shorts, short white socks, and a pair of blue sneakers.

Grabbing his PokéBalls, capsule case, and favorite set of sunglasses, Geoffrey quickly set the items on his belt alongside his P.E.T. Making sure Ash and Ashley weren't around, he quickly wrote a note explaining his actions and left it on the dining room table.

After double checking he had everything he would need, such as Potions, Full Heals, Poké Snacks, Pokémon food, and other travel items in his Bag, Geoffrey quietly left his home and headed for Sopheria's border.

It was still morning, so security around the city's border was relatively light and easy to bypass. Once he found an opening, Geoffrey slipped by the guards and headed into the vast desert of the Orre Region.

He then turned and took a last glance at his home city, knowing he wouldn't be able to return anytime soon for his current transgression of leaving without permission. Steeling his resolve and taking a deep breath, he opened the capsule that held his Rocket Skates and put them on. Within seconds, the 10-year old Pokémon Trainer was rolling through the desert due south for Phenac City, the main city of Orre in search of answers.

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Geoffrey's Point of View, Modern Narration) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

_Three years had passed since I met Maia, the petite shoulder-length blue-hair girl with green eyes wearing a sailor uniform who had looked somewhere from fifteen to seventeen years old. I had been playing in Sopheria Park when she had saved me from being attacked by a group of strange monsters that didn't look like Pokémon. I didn't have a license to be a trainer yet, so I couldn't do a thing. Her combat skills were superb, and I wanted to be as strong as she was, and be able to pull off those awesome special attacks Master Van called Artes. What really caught my attention then, was the key-looking-sword Maia had wielded. Little did I know it at the time, but I was fantasizing of becoming as strong as my future female self, and also wanted a weapon as cool as hers, regardless if it looked girly. Fate and inevitability sure can be ironic at times._

**OOO  
****OOO===============OOO  
****OOO**

End of Prologue  
_**Author's Note and Disclaimer:**_  
Truth be told, Johto is my favorite region, but Sopheria's high-tech background was too advanced to be placed in Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn. Unova and Kalos were options, but I wanted to stick to third generation Pokémon, so Orre was the perfect choice. Plus I found Colosseum and XD the most challenging out of all the Pokémon games up to the third generation. Plus, I decided to write this Arc on account the previous ones involve too much Yu-Gi-Oh!, so I wanted ones with more Pokémon involved. I don't own Pokémon or any of its six generations or the Kingdom Hearts series.

**v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v**

Geoffrey: Whew! interesting backstory, ne?

Leo: I should have been mentioned more. I'M the hero.

Geoffrey: Originally, yeah. But I'M the hero of thus stoey. You're just a support character now,

Leo: Why you...

Mirei: Does that mean you don't like me?

Geoffrey: Gah! Th-That's not what I meant!

Leo: Heh! She's got your number!

Mirei: Meaning what?

Leo: Nothing!

Geoffrey: Next time on Kingdom Hearts Anime Mix: Tales of the Final Heart - The Shadow Arc, **Chapter 01: I'm Entering the Fray**. 'Let the games begin!'


	2. Phenac City I

Kingdom Hearts Anime Mix: Tales of the Final Heart - The Shadow Arc  
Written By Geoffro Madness

**Please read, enjoy, and review! :)**

**:-:  
****\- - - - - PREVIOUSLY ON KINGDOM HEARTS ANIME MIX - - - - -  
****:-:**

_Having a premonition of events to come, Geoffrey leaves the safety of Sopheria and heads for Phenac City of the Orre Region in hopes of finding out what the bad feelings he is getting are about._

**v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v—v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v**

_…_

_Opening Theme: 'Natsuiro Surprise' from 'Kami Nomi Zo Shiru Sekai'_

_…_

_Mogi-tate no aoi sora kaigansen o hashiru kage  
__Shiroi parasoru sunahama wa kadan  
__Asobi tsukareta kaerimichi kata o tataita niwakaame  
__Basutei futari amayadori shita ne  
__Suke chatta waishatsu mite  
__Sorashitahitomi itoshiku natte  
__Kono manma yamanaide tte kamisama dou ka onegai Yeah  
__Natsuiro no sapuraizu  
__Manazashi wa paradaisu  
__Hohoende te o totte sa ikou  
__Hora  
__Natsuiro no sapuraizu  
__Kuchibiru wa paradaisu  
__Unmei ni te o futte sa ikou  
__Doko ka tsuredashite ashibumi nante atonomatsuri  
__Samasamasama  
__Futari de doko made mo hashirou yo_

_…_

**v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v**

**Chapter 01: I'm Entering the Fray**

_WORLD: TERRA TERRACE_

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Outside of Phenac City, 10:00 AM; Geoffrey's P.O.V.) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

According to all the books and data I've read, most of the Orre Region is pretty much desolate desert areas, with some exceptions such as Phenac, a city that acts like an oasis with all the water that flows around it. Phenac is also home to the Pre-Gym where Trainers train to prepare themselves for the tougher battles at the coloseum, and of course, the Coloseum where all the main and intense battles take place on a daily basis.

I was quite interested in testing my battling skills at both facilities, but at the moment, my only two Pokémon at the moment was Konoka, my Ditto, and Ry uunosuke, my Charmeleon. Sure, I could probably put up a fight, but with only two Pokémon in my party, the chances of me losing was pretty high.

Why? Mainly because due to Orre's standard battling laws, when a Trainer's Pokémon is rendered unable to battle, that Trainer must immediately send in a substitute Pokémon to replace the knocked out Pokémon. If they can't, the battle usually turns into a two-on-one battle and the Trainer with only one Pokémon remaining tends to end up losing the match.

Why you may be asking?

Oh, simply because practically every match in the Orre Region is fought under Double Battle format by the default law of the Region. Only time Single Battles ever take place around here is when both Trainers each only have one Pokémon in their party, or their last single Pokémon is the only one left to battle with. Mind you, both scenarios rarely ever happen.

Moving on though and back to my story (LOL), I was rollerblading through the vast deserts of Orre heading south. Sopheria was positioned in a remote area in Orre's north-eastern area, so no one has ever found it before.

I was traveling across an entire Region, but due to the fact Orre has no set Routes like many of the other Regions did, I was free to travel however I chose, though this tends to make tourists become lost. And due to the technology implanted into my roller-skates, that pace only took an hour or so before I reached the area just outside the city gate.

When I did arrive, I was surprised to see a motorbike with an engine design like none I had never seen before. While the bike looked like an old antique, it actually also looked pretty cool to ride with its six engine pipes sticking out of its front, giving the bike the appearance of a spider or some multi-legged creature.

The man who owned the cool looking bike hopped off his vehicle and calmly walked towards Phenac's entrance, with me following close behind. Upon closer inspection, the man was pretty tall with spiky grayish hair wearing a dark coat that went down to his legs. What really caught my attention were his eyes. Though they looked mean and quite intimidating, I somehow felt the guy was trustworthy and had a kind heart underneath his tough looking exterior appearance.

As I followed the guy into the City, we had barely entered the gate when we found a startling sight. Two men were standing in the entrance to the City, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the fact the two men were roughly handling a bag that had a tied knot at the top, and I could swear I could hear muffled sounds coming from inside the large bag that was the size of a person.

One of the two men then spoke up to his companion. "Hey, what are you doing? Get a grip, man!"

The other man responded just as roughly. "Yeah, you say that, but this…" He seemed to be struggling with the body bag and was heaving as he spoke. "…It won't stop squirming. Makes it tough to hold on to."

The first man sighed. "Okay, okay. Settle down in there. Just be quiet for a little while longer." He commanded to whoever was in the bag.

Said person only resisted and moved around inside the bag even more fiercely than ever before as his or her apparent gag came loose.

"Mgffpmmmgg… Bah! Help! Someone let me out! Kidnappers!" cried out a desperate female voice from inside the bag.

"Tch! That tape didn't keep her yap shut!" complained the second man as an annoyed tick mark formed on his head.

One of the men kicked the bag. "Hey! Quit your shouting!"

Unable to watch any more of this, I ran up past the motorbike owner, grabbed my wooden sword from my subspace pocket, and threw it like a dart at the closest man. "Leave her alone, you kidnappers!" I demanded angrily as I put my hand on my belt, ready to grab Ryuunosuke's PokéBall.

That man I had hit turned to me with angry eyes. "Drat! This punk and kid heard all that!" he swore aloud as both he and his pal dropped the body bag and walked up to where I was. Little did I know, the gray-hair guy had too stepped forward and was right behind me. "So you two overheard us, so we don't have any choice but to take you guys out. Blame it on your own bad luck! Battlefield Dimension Shift!"

With that, our surroundings shifted into the B.D.F., or Battle Dimension Field for short. Many Trainers like to battle in Orre, but tend to end up battling in some of the most ludicrous locations ever from a closet to an elevator to a bathroom! Don't ask me how it happens, it just does.

To deal with these problems, all Trainers in Orre are issued a standard mobile device known as the B.D.S., or Battlefield Dimension Shifter for short. This device allows Trainers to enter a subspace area that is both connected to but still separate from reality. In this spce, Trainers can battle freely in a large setting without having to worry about damaging the outside world. Nowadays, using this system along with Orre's other battling rules had become second nature to all those who live here.

As the shifted dimensions settled, I was standing on one side of the battlefield next to the gray-haired guy. The two kidnappers were on the other side of the field.

I looked up to my apparent battle partner and asked, "Are we battling together?"

He looked down at me and nodded. "Looks like it. You have any Pokémon with you, kid?"

I smiled back at him. "Yup! I got two! I'm Geoffrey, Mac Geoffrey, at your service!"

The man chuckled to himself as he pulled out a PokéBall. "Nice to meet you, Geoffrey. I'm Leo. Now, let's take care of these guys! Go, Espeon!" the now named 'Leo' shouted as he threw his PokéBall onto the battlefield.

I followed suit and threw my PokéBall into battle as well. "Ryuunosuke, Battle Entrance!"

Our two PokéBalls opened up as our two chosen Pokémon appeared in a flash of white light. Leo's Espeon was a fox/cat-like Psychic-type Pokémon with purple fur, a long tail that split at the end, and four slender legs. Ryuunosuke, my Charmeleon, was reptile-like Fire-type Pokémon with dark red skin that stood up on two legs and had a long red tail that had a fiercely torch burning at its tip.

The two men scoffed when they saw our Pokémon choices enter the battlefield. "Hah! We'll show you real Pokémon, for my name isn't Folly! Go, Whismur!"

Folly's partner had similar thoughts. "Yeah, and I'm Trudly! Go, Grimer!"

Their two PokéBalls opened up in the same flash of light as ours did, to reveal a Whismur, a small Normal-type Pokémon that had a rather round body that looked like it had bells for ears. The other, Grimer, was a Poison-type Pokémon that distinctly resembled a pile of dark purple slime with two glowing eyeballs. May give a normal kid nightmares from the smell.

Without waiting for a signal, we all sprang into action, or at least our opponents did.

"Whismur, use **_Pound_** on Charmeleon!" Folly ordered to his Whismur to use one of its physical Normal-type moves.

"Grimer, use **_Sludge_** on Espeon!" Trudly instructed his Pokémon to use one of its special Poison-type techniques.

As two attacks were executed, both Leo and I waited until the last second to act.

"Espeon, dodge and use **_Confusion_** on Grimer!" Leo called out to his partner to use its special Psychic-type attack.

"Ryuunosuke, counter Whismur with **_Iron Tail_**!" I shouted out to my Charmeleon to use its physical Steel-type attack.

Whismur had run across the battlefield at my Charmeleon and had leapt into the air at my Pokémon, but following my command, Ryuunosuke's tail glowed a grayish color as it took on the appearance of actual steel as it swung its tail at the Whismur, sending it flying back across the field like a golf ball. Espeon had jumped to the side to avoid the sludge that Grimer had spat at it, and its eyes then glowed white as it sent a wave of psychic energy that knocked its opponent backwards.

Both our opponents gave yells of protest when they saw their Pokémon being pushed back so easily by a punk and a kid in their eyes. Leo and I made eye contact and nodded at each other as we shared a silent message as a team combination came into play. Even two complete strangers, when teamed up on the battlefield with a common enemy, words were not always needed to convey their thoughts and feelings when their objectives were the same.

"Espeon, use **_Swift_**!" Leo called out.

"Ryuunosuke, combine with **_Heat Wave_**!" I called out at the same time.

Both our Pokémon reacted in synch as Espeon conjured up a storm of stars that flew at our opponents like homing missiles. Charmeleon released a wide stream of fire from its mouth that made contact with the Swift, making the Normal type attack gain a fiery quality as the stars turned red and seemed to be emanating a burning texture.

Folly and Trudly could only stare on in shock as our attack combination slammed into their Whismur and Grimer, knocking their two Pokémon out. As they gave shocks of outrage and shock, they returned their Pokémon to their respective PokéBalls as we returned to reality.

Folly looked appalled. "Gah! You guys took out my Whismur! You're tougher than you look!"

"What's going on out here?!" called out a random civilian as people came running over to where we were to inspect the scene.

Both men looked alarmed at the new arrivals, but their upcoming threatening comments were cut off by a female voice we had forgotten about in the midst of our battle.

"Eeek! Somebody! Robbers! They're robbers!" the female voice shrieked from inside the bag.

Trudly looked uncomfortable as he kicked the bag in hopes of silencing their captive. "Y-You be quiet! We're no robbers! We're kidnappers! Get it? Kidnappers!" he corrected hastily.

Folly was stunned by his partner's stupidity as he jabbed his elbow into Trudly's side. "Wha… You dingbat! Don't shoot off your mouth!" he scolded his partner. He then turned to look at Leo and me. "Don't get happy just on account of winning this once. The next time we meet, I'll trash you two, your Pokémon and all!" he declared hotly before both he and Trudly took off, leaving the body bag behind. They hopped into their truck and took off west as if being chased by a herd of Tauros.

One of the civilian s walked up the bag left on the ground and examined it.

"Oh, yuck! There's someone inside there!" he exclaimed in disgusted shock at the actions of the two departed men.

Another person had walked up and had bent down to try to untie the knot that had kept the body bag closed. "Gah! This is tied good and tight. Can you believe those people? What a horrible thing to do!" she declared in anger as she tried to undo the unbudging knot.

I looked to my battling partner with pleading eyes. "Can you undo it? I don't know how to undo a knot." I admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment. It was true after all. The only knots I ever dealt with were the ones on my shoes.

Leo just shrugged and stepped forward as he knelt down to attempt to untie the tight knot of the body bag. He tugged hard on the knot, harder than the others had done. The rope that made up the knot slowly but surely gradually loosened up over the minute Leo kept pulling. Eventually, the knot came loose as the mouth of the sack opened up.

Noticing this, the girl inside the bag jumped to her feet, causing Geoffrey and Leo to jump backwards as the bag fell down, revealing a girl with dark orange hair tied into high twin ponytails on either side of her head. She wored a blue jacket over a black shirt and white shorts.

The girl stretched out as she took in a deep breath and sighed in sweet relief. Frankly, anyone would do the same after recovering from such an experience of being stuck in a body bag for who knows how long.

"Phew! Thank goodness! I'm saved!" she exclaimed happily before she looked around herself as a confused look grew on her face. "…Where is this? Where did those tow bring me?" she asked to the assembled people.

I stepped forward to answer for the lost girl. "This is Phenac City, the opulent city of water. My friend here and I helped to rescue you from those kidnappers." I told her in a somewhat timid tone. I wasn't too keen on meeting strangers, and was usually pretty shy until I got to know someone.

One of the gathered persons chose to input their own two cents on the matter. "Yeah! The way they battled together against those thugs… It was truly superb. I wish I could have recorded it."

The girl looked quite interested by now as she faced both Leo and me, who were still standing next to one another. "Is that so? Thank you both so much!" she gushed as she ran forward and grabbed each of our hands, shaking them furiously up and down in excited gratitude. She then stopped and smiled at us. "And… who are my two princes?" she asked politely with a sly smile.

I looked down shyly as I scratched the back of my head. "Mac, Geoffrey…"

"Leo." Said man grunted out, keeping a straight neutral face, but was trying to avoid looking directly at the saved girl while squashing a faint blush that was attempting to surface.

The girl smiled upon hearing our names. "Oh… So Geoffrey and Leo! I'm Mirei! I'm sure glad to meet the two of you!" the now named 'Mirei' said happily before getting serious. "I was in the neighboring town when those two grabbed me.

Mirei seemed to realize something as she then asked us, "Oh! Those guys, did they use a peculiar Pokémon?"

I simply cocked my head to the side in confusion at the asked question. Not knowing what Mirei was referring to, I glanced up at Leo for a supposed answer. Disappointedly, he just shrugged his shoulders and raised an eyebrow, apparently not knowing what Mirei meant either.

One of the gathered civilians also gave Mirei a blank look. "A peculiar Pokémon? No, they looked ordinary to me. What do you mean by peculiar Pokémon?" She asked.

Mirei looked disappointed, but shrugged off the question. "Oh… No. No, that's fine, then." She still looked troubled as she seemed to be concerned about something. I was pretty curious to know what she had meant by 'peculiar Pokémon', and so did Leo, though he was trying to hide it.

Mirei's concern was easily apparent to all present, so the same civilian made a suggestion to her. "Well, it's easy to see something's on your mind. You should go see our Mayour for his advice. He's a very kindly person. I'm sure that he'll be able to help you somehow. The Mayor's house is near the fountain square past here. Go up the stairs from the square and it's on your left."

Mirei looked thoughtful at the suggestion. "The Mayor, huh? Yes, that's true! The Mayor might know something!" she said in agreement as she then turned to again look at Leo and me. "Hey, Geoffrey, Leo. I know I'm imposing, but I don't have anyone else that I can turn to. Please, can I get you two to escort me for a while?" she asked.

I looked uncertain as I looked back and forth between to two older teens. "I'm not sure… I just arrived in town myself and just happened to be there when I teamed up with Leo-san in that battle. We don't even know each other." I replied shyly.

Surprisingly, to me anyways, Leo placed a calming hand on my shoulder. "Don't sell yourself short, kid. You stood up for Mirei without hesitation, without even knowing her, and you battled well for a kid of your age. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a kid like you battle so well and connected with their Pokémon like you had. It'd be interesting to team up with you and Mirei here for a while." He said with a smile that seemed to change his entire mean and rough looking demeanor appearance. I couldn't help but smile back as I nodded back at Mirei.

Said girl clapped her hands together and hopped up and down ecstatically. Thank you, Geoffrey, Leo!" She then grew a sly grin as she looked at the two males. "Eheh, I thought you two might say that…" Mirei let the comment float in the air, causing Leo to look away and me to look down again, each of our cheeks slightly tinted pink.

Mirei giggled upon seeing our reactions and move on. "Anyways, if you two are with me, it won't matter if those guys come back again! Again, thank you! Thanks for joining me for a while!" With that, she took off skipping towards the fari side of the fountain plaza.

Leo and I just glanced at one another. I was at a loss of what had just transpired. Leo seemed to be indifferent to the situation, for he just shrugged and followed our new companion with me right behind him. Following the instructions we were given, we soon went up the steps on the fountain plaza's far end. The building in the center of the next plaza caught our attention.

"Hey what's that?" Mirei asked, pointing at the said building before us.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Leo was the one who answered for both of us, thus beating me to the punch. "That's Phenac City's Prestige Precept Center also known as the Trainers' Training Center, but better known to all in Orre as the Pre-Gym."

I took over from there. "It's not an official League Gym and doesn't give out Badges, but acts as a training facility for Trainers to come to in order to train their Pokémon in preparation to participate in Phenac City's Colosseum."

Mirei looked quite impressed by this. "Can we take a look?"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Weren't we going to visit the Mayor about your problem, Mirei?" he asked.

Said girl's eyes widened as she realized they were getting off track. "Ah man! You're right! Let's go!" And with that, she was off again towards their original destination. Leo and I looked at one another. I had a large sweat-drop on my head and Leo just shook his in disbelief as we followed our so called escort. Leaving the Pre-Gym Plaza and turning left from there, our destination was soon in our sights as a plain-looking house up ahead.

As we approached the Mayor's house, the door slid open as a rather tall man stepped out, even taller than Leo. He acted civil and kind, but something about the guy just gave the chills and a bad feeling.

"Hm? I'd guess you two are traveling Trainers?" the man asked, gesturing to both me and Leo. He glanced at us for a moment as if analyzing our capabilities before speaking once more. "Hm… I like what I see in both your expressions. Fufufu… I have a feeling I may see you two again somewhere." With that, the man walked off.

The three of us just stared after the man whom we just had a peculiar conversation with. No one made a sound for a moment until I chose to make a comment.

"Does anyone here know what that was about?" I asked with a blank face. Both Leo and Mirei just shook their heads as we stepped into the Mayor's house, whose door had been left open by the strange man that had just exited it.

Inside the Mayor's house, it was a pretty spacious room with a neatly carpeted floor like the ones you tend to see in rich people's homes or on TV when watching films involving the government. There was a staircase leading up, most likely to a bedroom. On the left side was a large plama flat screen TV set with surround sound and everything attached. On the right side of the room was a large desk with an equally large bookshelf behind it.

A rather short and chubby man stepped out from behind the desk when he saw the three of us enter his house and addressed us warmly. "Ah, you must be Trainers! Welcome to Phenac City! I am Es Cade, the Mayor." He said in introduction as we too introduced ourselves before he got right down to business. "Now, you wanted to see me. Is there something that I may be able to assist you with?"

Mirei stepped forward at this point, but seemed to be hesitant in what she wanted to say.

"Um… Er…"

Es Cade seemed interested now that Mirei was speaking as I saw a glint flash in his eyes. Pervert. Don't ask how a 10-year old knows that word, or I'll end you.

"Oh? What may I do for a pretty young lady kike you?" Es Cade asked politely and calmly. Some might take his words the wrong way. Good thing Mirei had two bodyguards present.

Mirei couldn't seem to hold it in any longer as she sputtered out, "I… I saw it!"

Es Cade looked just as confused as me and Leo as we all cocked our heads to the side in confusion.

"Saw it? And what did you see?" the Phenac Mayor asked.

Mirei responded immediately. "I saw a peculiar Pokémon… No, that's no quite right… What I saw was a Pokémon that gave off a black aura. It was like a fighting machine! And that Pokémon would attack even people!" she exclaimed in utter frustrated, seemingly not understanding what had come out of her own mouth.

Somehow, to me anyway, the Mayor's response seemed forced and unnaturally not surprised. It could just be me though. I usually tended to have a bit of a paranoid mind at times, but my ears were sensitive, and the Mayor's stuttering just didn't seem normal.

"O-o-o-Oh my! Pokémon like a fighting machine? And it attacked people?" Es Cade repeated with wide eyes that made me suspicious. From next to me, Leo seemed to be gazing at Es Cade with just as criticizing eyes. Es Cade paid us no mind as he continued to talk. "Now if that were true, that would be truly frightening. However, it is a little hard to believe…"

Mirei cut off his monologue.

"It's true! It's true, Mayor-san!" Mirei insisted. "Because I saw that Pokémon, I was made the prisoner of some frightening men until just a little while ago." Somehow, Mirei's statement sounded a little exaggerated to me, but who am I to judge?

Es Cade looked thoughtful as he placed a hand on his chin. "Hmm… I see." See what? "I understand." What's to understand? "I will order an investigation at once." Oh will you?

Mirei seemed oblivious to Leo and my doubts at she seemed grateful to the Mayor. "You will? Thank you, Mayor-san!"

Es Cade waved off the praises. "Oh, no, no. There is no need for thanks." Darn right there isn't. "We musn't allow thugs to do as they wish. Especially thugs that endanger a pretty young lady like you." Again, that statement seemed to make me and Leo edge closer to Mirei on either side of her unconsciously. "I'll ask that you give me a little time on this matter. I promise we will get some useful information for you."

It was then Es Cade seemed to notice both me and Leo standing on either side of Mirei giving the older man glares that would cow lesser men. He just ignored our glares as if we were passing wind as he continued to speak, actually addressing us this time.

"Oh, by the way… You two appear to be Pokémon Trainers, yes?" At our reluctant nods, he went on. "In that case, I urge you two to visit our city's pride and joy: our Pokémon Stadium. It's a breathtakingly beautiful Stadium befitting our oasis city!" he stated with obvious pride.

Without another word, and seeing those words being the end of the discussion, we bowed to the Mayor and left his house, only one of us leaving with a more calm demeanor. The other two, being me and Leo, were still bristling from the Mayor's comments, though I really didn't get why I was acting like this.

**v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v**

Little did we know, our suspicions of Es Cade were not for not, for once we had left his house, he had whispered to himself for only himself to hear, "Damn meddlers are going to ruin my plans. Best warn Ein to hurry up his research…"

**v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v**

Back to our group, we had taken the Mayor's advice, we headed for the northernmost area of Phenac City and went up the step that led to the Stadium entrance. Even the reception area had water flowing all around it. In fact, behind the registration counter was a waterfall flowing into a lake that I assumed flowed to the other waterfalls outside the Stadium and into the city.

As we approached the receptionist, she looked up at us with a smile. "Welcome to Phenac City's Coloseum!"

Leo stepped forward. "Is this where we register for a challenge?" he asked in his usual neutral tone, but still somewhat polite.

The receptionist's smile wavered a bit. "It is. However, the current challenge is already in progress. So, we are not able to accept any more Trainers for this round of challenges. We would greatly appreciate it if you choose to come back and register the next time you're in town." She said with a hopeful yet apologetic smile.

Hearing this, we thanked her and left the Stadium reception area. Once we were outside though, we were confronted by three men that were dressed in apparently the same uniform, and ugly I might add. I may not have a good sense of fashion, but those outfits were horrendous and I wouldn't wear those outfits even I were to be paid!

The three blokes stood in a formation that prevented any of us from being able to pass them, so we were forced to listen as one of them spoke up.

"Hey, Leo! We've finally found you! You filthy double crossing traitor! Wrecking the Hideout wasn't enough for you?! So you rip off the Snag Machine? You've got some nerve, man!"

Leo rolled his eyes at the comment. "Please, I was never on your side to begin with." He snorted in reply.

Mirei and I were obviously now confused as to what was going on here. My female companion in lost-hood recovered first.

"Who are these people?" she asked Leo, who was glaring at the three men.

I then noticed something about the outrageous uniform that clicked something in my mind. "Wait… Aren't these guys with Team Snagem?" I asked, before something else clicked about what that guy had said. "Wait… traitor? They don't mean?!"

As I glanced up at Leo in realized shock, Mirei seemed to come to the same conclusion I had as she too looked at the main male of our group. "By traitor… Geoffrey, you mean you are…"

One of the Snagem Grunts chuckled as he saw Mirei and my expressions of shock. "That's right pretty lady and squirt. He's from Team Snagem, just like us! But he was no ordinary member. He was a Snagger. He's the best in Team Snagem at Snagging Pokémon without fail."

Both Mirei and I glanced at one another, understandably not wanting to accept that our new friend was a member of one of Orre's worst crime organizations. And what was this about 'Snaggers'? What WAS a Snagger anyways? We had quite a list of questions that we wanted answers to, but we settled for the most basic one.

Mirei looked to the gray-haired Trainer and asked, "Leo, is that true?"

Leo sighed, still glaring at the men. His glare seemed to intensify on the man whom had told us about his apparent no-so-happy past. "It's true." He admitted through gritted teeth, not letting his glares subside in the slightest. A lower man would have fallen to his knees by now from the amount of Killing Intent Leo was giving off.

Surprisingly though, Mirei and I weren't really that upset about hearing Leo was a part of Team Snagem. In face, we seemed more relieved than upset upon hearing his admittance.

"Oh. Wow." Was all I could say.

"That's a little shocking." Was Mirei's simple comment. Both of our responses made Leo raise an eyebrow, apparently he had expected a much different response to his revelation, but shook it off easily.

Another of the Grunts spoke up this time, cutting into our conversation. "Hey, Leo Come on and hand it over! Give back the Snag Machine you ripped off from the Hideout!"

Ah, there was the million yen question of the day. Well, not on par with the peculiar Pokémon with black auras issue, but a close second. What was this Snag Machine these Grunts kept mentioning?

Mirei again seemed to be sharing my thoughts as she beat me to punch.

"Snag Machine? Leo, do really have something like that?" the orange-haired girl inquired her 'bodyguard'.

Leo just nodded in confirmation as one of the Snagem Grunts spoke up in explanation. "The Snag Machine was built for Trianers. When a Trainer puts the Snag Machine on, their PokéBalls are converted. Ordinary PokéBalls are turned into Snag Balls that can steal Pokémon from their trainers in battle."

Another of the Grunts smacked his companion in the head. "Hey, you blabbermouth! Keep that stuff secret!" he ordered.

_'__Too late now, moron.'_ I thought quite smugly to myself.

Both Mirei and I again seemed to be having the same thoughts as we came to the same conclusion as to why Leo had apparently gone 'traitor' to Team Snagem and stolen this 'Snag Machine' from them. And if he hadn't used it up till now, that meant only one thing…

"So that's why these guys are chasing after you, Leo!" I exclaimed aloud, not bothering to hide my excitement, shock, and anger at the three Grunts.

Mirei was just as energized as I was, her vocal cords rising several octaves. "Yeah, what a bunch of creeps!"

One of the Grunts seemed insulted by our comments. Not that we cared.

"Creeps? What do mean by 'creeps'?" one of them repeated angrily.

Another Grunt, apparently the leader of the group, sighed. "Gah, this is getting us nowhere! Look, if you won't give it up willingly, we'll take it back by force!"

Leo readied his B.D.S., as did I and two of the three Grunts. "Whatever, Wakin." He retorted to the main Grunt.

"**BATTLEFIELD DIMENSION SHIFT!**" We all shouted at once as we entered the familiar sub-dimension. This time around, both Leo and I decided to switch things up a bit.

"Go, Umbreon!" Leo said as he threw his PokéBall.

"Konoka, Battle Entrance!" I called out as I followed suit.

From Leo's PokéBall appeared a Dark-type Pokémon that looked somewhat similar to Espeon. Difference was, this one had dark black fur and had bright yellow circles on different sections of its fur. My PokéBall released a Normal-type Pokémon known as a Ditto, that could easily be mistaken for a blob of Jello with two small black eyes. Normally Ditto were pink colored, but not mine.

My Ditto was blue and gave off a swirl of sparkles as it exited my PokéBall.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "A Shiny Ditto, huh? Nice find."

The Snagem Grunts hardly noticed this interaction as they were focused on their own Pokémon. "Go, Gloom!" Wakin said as he called his Pokémon into battle.

"Go, Koffing!" the other Grunt called out as he too threw his PokéBall into battle.

On the opposite side of the field had appeared a Corphish, a small red crab-looking Water-type Pokémon with a pincer for its hands. The other was a Poison-type that pretty much looked like a small purple ball of floating gas, which was kind of hard to miss with the danger emblem that was on its front and the small puffs of gas being puffed out from multiple holes in its body.

Seeing the choices our opponents had made, Leo and I shared a glance and held a quick silent conversation that ended with a nod of agreement before we both held out our PokéBalls and called out together, "Return!"

In a flash of red light that came out of our PokéBalls, our two Pokémon were hit by the said light and were recalled into their respective capsules.

Our opponents were quite confused by this, so the unnamed Grunt called out, "What's wrong, Leo? Scared of our mighty Pokémon now are we?"

Leo just snorted. "As if, we're just being strategically smarter than you two lame brains. Espeon, go!" he shouted as he threw his other PokéBall out.

"Ryuunosuke, Battle Entrance!" I called out at the same time as I too threw my other PokéBall out. In a flash of white light appeared our other partners. Upon seeing the Fire and Psychic types, our two opponents began to sweat in panic upon realizing our plans.

"Ah crap! Quick, Koffing, use **_Smokescreen_**!" The Grunt ordered his Pokémon to use a technique that covered their side of the field in a veil of black smoke that had been released from the Koffing's body.

Mirei looked quite confused. "How did that Pokémon do that? I thought Pokémon only knew how to attack."

Leo rolled his eyes and explained for her. "Pokémon attacks are categorized into three areas: Physical, Special, and Other. Physical attacks do as their name says, their attacks hit an enemy physically."

I took over from there. "Whereas Special attacks such as Confusion and Flamethrower are generally released from a distance so the user doesn't hit the target physically. And Other techniques like that Smokescreen do various things in battle, like in this case, lower the accuracy of our attacks being able to hit our opponents. But in this case…"

I trailed off as I looked over at Leo, who smirked at me as he called out to his Espeon, understanding my supposed plan, "Espeon, use **_Helping Hand_** on Charmeleon!"

Espeon nodded as if performed a slight dance of some kind, thus sending a small swirl of energy that surrounded my Charmeleon. I smiled upon the technique's completion and said to my Fire-Type, "Ryuunosuke, hit that smoke with **_Heat Wave_**!"

My Charmeleon smirked before it opened its mouth and unleased an even stronger stream of fire than last time that hit the veil of smoke on the opposite end of the field, creating a giant explosion to occur upon impact. Leo, Mirei, Espeon, Ryuunosuke, and I all glanced away from the bright light that had appeared and used our hands to ward off the intense heat.

Several seconds later, the smokescreen had worn off and dissipated to reveal a knocked out pair of a Koffing and Corphish lying on the ground as the dimensions returned to normal.

The second Grunt had his mouth agape so wide he could probably intake a Voltorb and hold it in his mouth. "H-H-How… did you…?" he stuttered out.

Leo smirk grew to a full-blown grin. "When fire hits gas, it usually tends to create an explosion to take place, does it not?" he sneered at our two opponents as we recalled our respective Pokémon.

"Blast you, Leo! And you too, you little punk! Don't think this is over! We're going to get that Snag Machine back. Just you wait!" Wakin spat angrily as he and his two fellow Grunts recalled their own Pokémon before they ran off.

Once we were sure the three Team Snagem Grunts were gone. Both Mirei and I faced Leo, who was now sweating from the attention he was now receiving.

Mirei smile sweetly at him. "Well, what do you know, Leo. So one of my knights in shining armor is from Team Snagem, hm?"

I decided to add my own input on the matter. "I think you mean 'formerly' from Team Snagem, Mirei-san."

Leo seemed uncomfortable as he was trying to look anywhere but at the two of us. "You two… really don't mind?" he asked slowly, waiting for his judgment.

After a moment of Mirei and I looking at one another, much to Leo's surprise yet again, both us just smiled genuinely at him.

"It's okay, Leo-san. It doesn't matter to us who you are." I informed to flabbergast red ex-Snagem Trainer.

"After all, you're both my gallant princes who rescued me when I was in trouble. So, it doesn't matter." Mirei quipped, again giving both of us males a sly grin that made us turn away with heated cheeks.

Mirei then broke the mood as she made a suggestion. "Anyways, I've thought up something after listening to those creeps." She said, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the departed Snagem Grunts. "But there's still a matter I wish to discuss with you Leo…" she trailed off as she took a deep breath in.

Leo didn't notice, but I saw a glint of light flicker across Mirei's eyes. Noticing 'The Signal', I quickly but discreetly moved behind the older teens.

"Yeah?" replied an oblivious Leo.

"Listen, Leo…" Mirei said sternly, causing said man to snap into an attentive posture and expecting a scolding to ensue. "…we should go shopping for some PokéBalls."

Understanding and relief washed over Leo as he heard what Mirei was implying. I then had to make a statement upon a realization. "Um, Mirei-san, I should point out that Orre has had no wild Pokémon for years now due to its harsh desert-like climates. I'm not sure if any of the local towns' Poké Marts even have any PokéBalls for sale."

Mirei looked downcast at that statement, but Leo spoke up before she could say anything. "In that case, we can try the Outskirt Stand. While it's not an actual town, the owner of the place is known for collecting an odd number of antique items. He may have some PokéBalls we can buy for cheap."

The orange-head's mood did a 180 as she began hopping up and down excitedly. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's head out and check it out! Next stop, the Outskirt Stand!" she declared as she ran down the Stadium steps we had yet to leave from and ran towards the city entrance, leaving us males behind with sweat-drops on our heads as we followed her at a more slow and calm pace.

As we made our way outside Phenac City, Leo brought up a problem. "My bike only has room for one more human passenger, so someone may have to stay behind here in Phenac while we head out."

I smiled at him. "No need for that, Leo-san. Mirei-san can ride with you. I'll be right beside you two the whole time." To prove my point and clarify the confused looks the older teens were giving me, I put my hand into my pocket to brought out the Capsule that held my Rocket-Skates. Releasing the Capsule, my skates popped into existence and I slipped them on. "Ready whenever you two are." I informed the now shocked teens. Apparently they hadn't seen technology as advanced as Sopheria's yet. Oh well, not my problem. Heh.

Shrugging off the shock, Leo mounted his bike with Mirei behind him in the passenger seat. Roaring up the engine, the two took off east towards our destination. Much to Leo's shock and Mirei's surprise, I managed to keep up with them, only slightly behind them by a couple of feet as my Rocket-Skates propelled me forward at an accelerated speed that seemed unreal. Such was the life of one brought up in a high-tech city such as Sopheria.

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Outskirt Stand, 12:00 PM) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

Upon reaching the parked train in the middle of the desert, (I'm still not sure how a train got into the middle of nowhere when there are no train tracks anywhere in Orre) Leo parked his bike besides the Stand while I stored my Rocket Skates back into its Capsule, we let our Pokémon out of their PokéBalls to let them have fresh air and play around as we walked into the Stand via the small ramp outside its entrance.

Upon entering the Stand, the owner, the man behind the counter looked up and smiled upon seeing Leo. "Hey there, Leo, welcome back! If you're intending to travel some more, you might want to stock up on supplies while you're here."

Mirei chose that moment to step forward. "Hi, can I ask you something? Do you sell any PokéBalls?" she asked.

The man was quite surprised by her request. "Huh? PokéBalls you say? There's no call those things around Orre these days. Where'd I put them now?" He turned away from us and began to scavenger around his back shelves, looking for our requested item. It only took thirty seconds before he reemerged from his search, covered in quite a bit of dust.

"Oh yeah, here they are! A little dusty I'm afraid, but otherwise perfectly useable. Here, take these. I'll let have these ten regular PokéBalls and a Premier Ball for free."

He handed them to Leo, who stored them in his Bag with a grunt of thanks.

"Well, since I found them, I may just as well put them out with the rest of my merchandise. If you need some more, well, how about buying them from me?"

I smiled at the older man. "No problem there, old timer!"

The man's face fell into one of mock-anger. "Hey now, squirt, I'm not that old yet, you know!" He then laughed it off with us before he asked, "So, Leo, who are your new friends here."

"The kid here is my new battle partner, Geoffrey. And we're escorting the girl for a while. Her name's Mirei." The silver-haired teen replied.

"Geoffrey and Mirei, huh? Nice to meet you both. The name's Robert by the way in case Leo here didn't introduce me before." He said with a smirk as the said teen just rolled his eyes at the comment.

I wasn't really paying attention, but politely greeted him as Mirei did. What I was really looking at was the inventory of the convenient store of the doubled bar. After I took notice of several items, I spoke up.

"Can I get 10 Full Heals, 10 Great Balls, 10 Ultra Balls, 5 Timer Balls, 5 Net Balls, and 5 Nest Balls, please?"

Leo, Mirei, and Robert's eyes widened at the large order I had made and took the owner several seconds to compose himself.

"O-Okay… Let me gather all those for you… That'll come to a total of 39,000 yen for your order." Robert managed to stutter out, and all three olders' eyes widened once more as I just put my hand into one of my pockets and retrieved a 50,000 yen note. Robert just shook it off as he handed over my requested items and my change.

Leo too shook off the shock of seeing me as a somewhat rich kid and asked, "How much would lunch for three cost, Robert?"

Said man quickly recomposed himself again before responding. "It's usually 1500 for teens and 1000 for kids, but since the squirt just made me rich for quite some time, I'll give a discount and only charge 2000 yen for all three of you."

I nodded and made a move to hand over the requested amount, but Leo stopped me by placing a hand on my shoulder as I looked up at him confused.

"You just practically prepared us for battle that could last a long time and Snag quite a lot of potential Pokémon. I'll pay for our lunch and dinner for today." He replied in a tone that offered no arguments as he paid Robert and directed us towards a table at the back of the diner.

As we settled into the booth, it was Leo who spoke up first. "Since we got the time now, why don't you two tell me more about yourselves." He asked Mirei and me.

Mirei raised an eyebrow and asked, "Shouldn't you start first?"

Leo just shrugged. "My backstory is simple. I was orphaned at a young age and was found by Team Snagem's leader and raised to be their best Trainer and eventually, Snagger. After I found out their most recent operations, I stole their Snag Machine and split. You guys know the rest." He then turned to Mirei. "Your turn."

Mirei looked thoughtful for a second, tapping her finger on her chin before speaking. "Well, I'm originally from… what Region was it again… I keep forgetting. Anyway, I'm from another Region and had just arrived in Orre. As you know, I was kidnapped when I saw a Pokémon with a strange aura surrounding it and was kidnapped by those two weirdos. You two know the rest."

Leo nodded and then turned to me. "Your turn, squirt."

I fidgeted nervously in my seat for a while before answering. "Um… It's supposed to be secret, but I'll tell you both as long as you promise not to tell anyone else." Upon agreements from the two older teens, I went on. "I'm from the hidden city of Sopheria, hidden in Orre's north-eastern sector by a powerful cloaking field. I'm not sure how, but I could sense that the Pokémon of Orre were in danger, so I ran from home and met Leo outside of Phenac. You know the rest."

Mirei looked quite interested. "Sopheria?"

"A city that was built using the best technology in the world. With it, Sopheria is an artificial terraformed city with lush green grass, trees, wild life, and more. But the founder knew that if the rest of Orre found out such a paradise existed in a crime infested Region, only trouble would result. So they used their technology to create a barrier that prevents entry to foreign people and keeps the city from sight at all times. Sopheria is complete self-sufficient utopia where people and Pokémon live in peace." I explained.

Leo looked as interested as Mirei, but confused as well. "How do Pokémon enter the city if there's such a powerful barrier around it?"

I smirked at his expression and stated, "I never said the barrier kept Pokémon out of Sopheria." Understanding entered the two teens' faces as their eyes widened. It was then our orders arrived and we spent our lunch eating in silence. We had earlier let our Pokémon out of their PokéBalls as they too ate their own lunch. Once we were done, we thanked Robert and headed back to Phenac.

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Back to Phenac City, 02:00 PM) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

It was at this point I began to think that someone close to me or myself was becoming a trouble magnet. Almost as soon as we had parked and entered the city, one of the women we had met earlier called out to us as we entered the city.

"Oh, it's you three! Something terrible's happening! A whole lot of scary men came here! I think I even saw these two creeps who took off in the truck earlier! They're at the Mayor's house!"

Mirei's eyes widened in shock when she heard this and turned towards Leo and me with great urgency, only to see us looing rather indifferent on the matter. "What's wrong with you two? We have to go see if the Mayor is alright!" she exclaimed.

Leo sighed, rather deeply I might add. "Mirei, I'm not sure you noticed, but Es Cade, he… well… makes the kid and me feel on edge." He explained in a rather strained voice. My guess is, he's trying not to sound mean to not upset Mirei. I simply nodded to agree with Leo's assessment of our feelings.

Our lone female companion just 'hmphed' and crossed her arms under her chest as she unleashed a glare that would cower most men. Luckily, I'm not a man yet, so it only partially worked on me. Meaining, I simply fidgeted and looked away. Can't say the same for Leo who took several steps away from the unpleased girl to try to lessen the effects of the glare.

Next thing we knew, Mirei had grabbed both Leo and me by the backs of our shirt collars and was dragging us towards the Mayor's house. Our faces flushed deep red in embarrassment as we passed by several people who were trying to suppress their laughter at the sight of a fuming orangette dragging a tough-looking guy and a poor kid along behind her. It was pointless to even try to escape, so Leo and I just accepted our fates.

I didn't notice then, but Leo had then spotted a shiny gleam reflecting off my left wrist. While it looked like a watch, he had his suspicions of the stone embedded on my wristband. Little did I know that said stone was going to be key to the many battles ahead.

When we neared our destination, Mirei finally stopped dragging us along like groceries. This gave Leo and me enough time to jump to our feet and step away from Mirei before she could 'capture' us again. Fortunately, she was distracted by something else.

"Do you guys hear that music?" she asked.

We both blinked as we strained our ears. Sure enough, music could be heard, and it seemed to be coming from the Mayor's home, whose door was wide open. What really caught our attention was the fact that the music seemed to be the kind a disco fan from twenty years ago would like. After glancing at one another with blank stares, we just walked into the house to investigate.

What we found was unlike anything we had expected.

One of the men we had initially fought upon arrival into Phenac, Folly, turned towards us when we entered. "Master Miror B.! It's… It's them! They're the ones who took the girl from us!"

The man known as Miror B. turned around when his henchman informed of this and smirked at us as we stood in the doorway of the Mayor's house. "Oh, now aren't you boys frighteningly pathetic? You mean to tell me you were bested by these darling infants?"

My jaw dropped when I saw the man known as Miror B. I had seen several things during the three years of intense training with Master Van, but this took the cake.

"My eyes! My eyes are burning! Please get afro-man out of here!" I whined as I quickly shut my eyes trying to get the vision of the abomination before me out of my head. Mirei giggled as she watched me holding my head down low as Leo just shook his head in disbelief at my reaction. Can you blame me? I'm a 10-year old with a fragile brain for the unusual.

Said weirdo was an extremely tall individual, who was extremely skinny to boot. He wore a yellow jumpsuit and dark sunglasses. What really made us all freak out was his very big afro of hair that sat atop his head, which was shaped like an oversized PokéBall, with one side dyed red and the other half white. And I say ovrersized because, well… his hair was probably five times larger than his own head!

Miror B. had acquired a rather large tick mark pulsating on the side of his head as he spoke in a rather venomous tone. "Darlings, did you say your names were Leo and Geoffrey, or something?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued on. "I so don't like saying this, but we're not at liberty to keep your lady friend at liberty."

Mirei seemed to get angry as I watched her huff and place her hands on her hips. "And why is that?" she hissed at the weirdo of a man.

Said man continued on as if Mirei hadn't interrupted him. "That sweet young thing, she can see things that ordinary people aren't supposed to see. That just will not do for what we're plnning to do. No, it just won't do at all. If you two don't like pain like most people, you can avoid the pain by keeping your noses out of places it needn't be."

Mirei's annoyance seemed to evolve into rage as she then glared at the afro-man with a LOT of distaste, and who could blame her with how this man was referring to her and us, whereas Leo and I just rolled our eyes. I mean, come on! Threats are one thing, but that was just pathetic. I'd seen better threats while reading several fanfictional works on the Internet.

Miror B. didn't seem to notice our reactions, or just didn't care. Either way, he turned to his complaining henchman. "Boys! Oh, boys!"

The man known as Folly spoke up again. "Yes! Yes, we will!" he replied with a salute.

Miror B. gave his men a stern glance that seemed to promise pain as he spoke. "Boys, I shall make my return to Pyrite now. Do remember that I will be waiting for you to return with the little lady. Am I making myself clear? I won't accept failure from you again, boys. Fuhohoho…"

The 'afro-man' laughed evilly at the thought, causing his stooges to pale considerably as they nodded their heads frantically in understanding. He then turned around and began to exit the house. "Let the music play! Let's get it on!" Music started playing from somewhere, I'm guessing he had a music player in a subspace pocket or something as he left with three other men that were dressed in different colored uniforms; green, red, and blue respectfully.

Folly seemed to sigh when his boss had left, but adapted a fierce attitude as he directed glares at both me and Leo. "You two, you two, you two! The last time you guys caught me off guard! That's not gonna happen again!"

"Yeah, we're not gonna end up like last time!" Trudly said defiantly.

"Hn." Leo just grunted as he got his B.D.S. ready.

"Can we just get this over with?" I asked in a bored tone, doing the same as Leo as I thought about which of my two Pokémon I should use. Funny, I sound like an arrogant 17-year old. LOL. Internally, of course.

Our attitudes only seemed to infuriate our soon-to-be-opponents as they both jumped into action.

"**BATTLEFIELD DIMENSION SHIFT**!" they both shouted as the five of us entered the alternate space inside the Mayor's house. Come to think of it, where was the old timer that gave me an odd feeling? Ah, who cares.

"Whismur, come on out!" Folly shouted.

"Makuhita, let's do this!" Trudly called out.

Leo threw his PokéBall into battle. "Go, Espeon!"

I threw my own PokéBall out. "Konoka, Battle Entrance!"

Unseen by us Trainers, Mirei's eyes seemed to change from their normal color to a glowing green when the Makuhita appeared on the battlefield. Upon seeing what she had seen before, she called out to us in warning.

"Leo, Geoffrey! It's that Makuhita! It's the Pokémon I was telling you guys about! Those jerks captured me because I saw that Pokémon! I can see a black aura coming from it. They must have done something to that Pokémon!"

"Huh?" I asked blankly, thoroughly confused.

"So that's the one, huh?" Leo murmured to himself.

At that moment, the Makuhita ignored its Trudly's orders and directed what appeared to be a fierce Take Down or something like one at Leo. Luckily, the spiky teen managed to roll out of the way before the attack had hit.

As he made it back onto his feet, Leo glared at Trudly. "What do you think you're doing?!" I snarled at their opponent, with enough venom to cower a normal person.

Trudly, was not a normal person though and just shrugged indifferently, all the while just smirking at him, apparently not caring about the actions of his Pokémon. "Winning, what does it look like." He retorted.

Mirei saw this from the sidelines and continued to call out in warning. "Be careful, guys! That Makuhita isn't afraid to attack people! I know! Leo, I hate to say this, but there's no other choice. Get that Pokémon back from the bad guys! Please, you have to! You can… Actually, only you guys can do it!"

Leo sweat-dropped at Mirei's speech. "Okay… that was extremely cheesy." He stated flatly.

Mirei 'hmphed' and crossed her arms into a familiar stance we recognized by now with dread. "Oh, hush you! Just Snag that guy already!" she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am…" Both Leo and I muttered before directing our Pokémon into battle.

"Konoka, **_Transform_** into Makuhita!" I called out to my Tranform Pokémon, who nodded. Instantly, it glowed a bluish color before assuming the physical shape of the Makuhita on the opposite side of the field. I took my P.E.T. from my belt and had Asuka do a scan of my opponent's move set. Noticing something odd, I chose to bring it up later and directed my Pokémon. "Now, Konoka, use **_Arm Thrust_** on Whismur!" My transformed Ditto complied as it ran forward and struck its opponent multiple times with its bare palms.

Leo followed my lead. "Espeon, use **_Confusion_** on Makuhita!" But rather than the small blast of psychic energy, streams of energy shot out from the jewel on Espeon's head and shot towards their target, making Leo smirk. "Looks like Espeon just learned **_Psybeam_**." He noted smugly.

Just like last time, the two Miror B. Grunts were caught off guard by our onslaught of attacks to even command their own Pokémon efficiently. How these two bozos even became Trainers in the first place is beyond me. After my transformed Ditto repeatedly hit Whismur with its Fighting-type attack, Folly had to recall it as it was knocked out. /the strange Makuhita though, was another story.

The small yellow Fighting-type Pokémon that resembled a sumo wrestler just roared as the Psychic-type attack hit it. Trudly smirked and called out, "Not happening. Use **_Shadow Rush_** on Ditto!"

Once again, Makuhita was enveloped by a dark aura as it charged at my Pokémon. Fearing for my Pokémon's safety, I recalled Konoka and jumped out of the way of the rampaging Fighting-type. Wasting no time, I grabbed my other PokéBall and sent in my more combat oriented battling partner. "Ryuunosuke, Battle Entrance!"

As my Charmeleon entered the battle, Leo decided to take defensive measures. "Espeon, use **_Reflect_**!" The Sun Pokémon nodded as it conjured up a veil of yellow light that enveloped both itself and Charmeleon.

Folly groaned. "Oh, just great! **_Shadow Rush_** is a physical attack! Now it won't be as effective with that blasted defensive **_Reflect_** move in place!"

Trudly smirked evilly. "Oh, I wouldn't be too worried about that." His Makuhita was then surrounded by an eerie red glow as it roared out. Leo, Mirei, and I all winced as we felt the slight shockwave of its roar.

Mirei glanced at the Makuhita and gasped. "Leo, Geoffrey! Watch out! I don't know what's going on, but that Makuhita's dark aura has become even darker and gained a reddish glow that seems to making it stronger!"

Trudly's evil smirk grew. "That's right, girly. We call this 'Hyper Mode', where our special Pokémon with your so called 'dark aura' get stronger than ever! Use **_Shadow Rush_** on Charmeleon!" With a roar, his Pokémon charged forward.

I didn't want to use THAT move to counter, but I saw no other way to prevent my Pokémon from taking too much damage. So I gave the only command I could to counter the incoming attack. "Ryuunosuke, counter that attack with **_Dragon Rush_**!"

"Dragon Rush?" the other three Trainers in the room asked aloud as my Charmeleon jumped into the air and dove at the charging Makuhita, surrounding itself in a greenish-white light that emanated raw power.

The two attacking Pokémon collided, causing an explosion that created a cloud of dust to appear in the area. After waiting for several seconds for the cloud to clear, my Charmeleon was seen standing but breathing heavily. Makuhita was breathing heavily as well, but roared as it began to charge again.

I began to panic, but remembered why we had left Phenac City earlier. Reaching into my Bag with its PokéBall subspace pocket, I pulled out a Timer Ball and tossed it to Leo. "I don't think we can keep this up any longer! Snag it, Leo-san! Hurry!"

Leo took notice of the exhausted states of our Pokémon and nodded. Placing the Timer Ball into his left hand, he activated his Snag Machine which charged the Timer Ball with energy. He then threw the now converted Timer Snag Ball at the Makuhita as the Ball released a steam of energy that seemed to resemble a hand trying to grab something. As it hit the Makuhita, it was drawn into the Snag Ball.

No one in the room seemed to be able to breathe as we concentrated on the shaking Timer Ball, the center circle button continuously blinking red. After ten seconds of this, the Ball stopped moving as we all heard a clicking sound that signaled the successful capture as we all returned to reality.

"Snag… complete." Leo said smugly as he picked up the Timer Ball that now held the captured Makuhita from the floor as the B.D.S. canceled itself out.

Folly's jaw had dropped to floor at this point, not believing wha he had just seen. "Aww, blast it! We got tripped up again!"

Trudly was just as much in shock as his partner. "Wh-What?! My Pokémon! Darn it! But you guys are good. You actually Snagged my Makuhita!"

Folly elbowed his partner in the ribs. "Hey, what are you saying?! You're not supposed to be impressed! Oh man… What are we supposed to do now? We got flattened again! Miror B.'s going to chew us out!" He was clearly freaking out. Not that we minded, mind you.

Trudly looked at Folly as if he was stupid. Then again, I say he is. "What do we do? Easy! What else do we do? Run away!" With that, the two ran out of the Mayor's house as if they were being chased by a horde of charging Tauros.

Mirei was hopping up and down happily like a mad woman. "You two did it, Geoffrey, Leo! You Snagged that Makuhita from those goons! You were both great!" she cheered.

I recalled Ryuunosuke and sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. "Thank you, Mirei-san. But… I'm pretty sure there's going to be more Pokémon out there just like Makihita."

Mirei didn't let my theory divert her cheerful mood one bit. "Then let's get all of them back from the bad guys!" she declared quite confidently.

Leo seemed to agree with her. "I'm sure there's more of these Pokémon around Orre. For now though, we should probably heal up and rest before trying to leave town." Mirei and I agreed and we prepared to leave the Mayor's house without another word. Leo didn't show it, but he was concerned about something.

It was then I noticed something glimmering in the light of the doorway and picked it up.

"What's this?" I asked curiously as I examined the shiny object.

Leo motioned for me to hand over what I had found. After I complied, he gave the item a quick glance before responding, "It a Holo-Rom."

Mirei looked clueless, as did I.

"Holo-Rom?" we both asked simultaneously with the exact same blank expressions.

Leo rolled his eyes as he replied. "It's like an electronic device that stores data, mainly used by scientists for storing their research. This model however, seems to be able to project any data it has stored on a holo-projection screen."

"I guess either that Fodley or Trudley guy must have left it behind." Mirei thought aloud, tapping her chin in thought.

That explanation made me excited. "Can we see what's on it? We might learn something huge!" I cried out.

Leo just sweat-droppped at my enthusiasm, but he too was curious as to what kind of information may be stored on the Holo-Rom, so he pressed a button on the device as a holographic screen appeared and soon displayed its contents.

_Ein File S: Shadow __Pokémon  
__A Shadow Pokémon is a Pokémon that has been made into a fighting machine by artificially shutting the door to its heart. What we didn't know is that the Shadow Pokémon exude a dark aura that can't normally be seen by the human eye. Unfortunately, we discovered a girl with the ability to see this dark aura. This will become a major problem to our Shadow Pokémon Plan. A solution to this threat is urgently needed.  
__Written by Chief Ein of the Cipher Shadow Pokémon Lab._

Both Mirei and I were shocked and disgusted by what we had just read and found out about our new problem. Leo however, seems to suddenly develop a sadistic sense of humor.

"Looks like you're famous, Mirei. These guys have already documented you as a threat, which explains why you were kidnapped." He snickered evilly.

The bad joke snapped both me and Mirei out of our shocked states as rage took over our emotional engines as both of us rounded on the elder male of the group with her right hand raised...

[SLAP!]

"OW!"

I winced at the loud sound of flesh meeting flesh as I watched my fellow Trainer stumble backwards from the forceful slap Mirei had hit Leo with and began praying that she wouldn't do that to me anytime soon and made a mental note to never get on her bad side.

**:-:  
****\- - - - - - - (Geoffrey's Point of View, Modern Narration) - - - - - - -  
****:-:**

_While I never would have admitted it, though back then, I didn't know how, but I had always wanted friends. Being the shortest male in my year led to me being bullied by the other petty guys who were growing ahead of me. The girls stood up for me, but it really didn't make me feel any better. I had a friend for about a month named Nick, but he transferred out later on. While I never showed it, I really was lonely at school with no real friends to talk to. All I had… were acquaintances… I always wanted friends, and I finally met my firsts on this day._

**OOO  
****OOO===============OOO  
****OOO**

End of Chapter 01  
_**Author's Note &amp; Disclaimer:  
**_Thanks for reading, and I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Pokemon or anything else mentioned but my OC Geoffrey. For those who haven't read my Light Arc segment of this series, Geoffrey's home world is the one the Orre Region is based in as his home Region. I haven't updated The Light Arc due to lack of motivation, but if I get some nice reviews there and on this story, I'll definitely jump back into the game alongside my Harry Potter and Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V stories and try to get each updated with a chapter once a month. Thank you all and please review!

**v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v**

_…_

_Ending Theme: 'Kaze no Tadoritsuku' from 'Kanon (2006)'_

_Ashimoto ni kaze, hikari ga matta.  
__Nichijou ni dake tsumotta bun no kiseki ga.  
__Miagereba kumo, tooku e no kiro.  
__Osanai hi no jubun yori mo hayaku.  
__Yukidoke o matte ita kodomo no you ni hashiru.  
__Hikaru shizuku, tobihaneteru.  
__Asu no deai sae kizukazu ni iru.  
__Kisetsu-tachi no naka de kagayaite iru yo.  
__Sekaijuu ni wa donna omoi mo kanau hi ga kuru.  
__Zutto tabi o shite yuku bokura ni.  
__Chiisana sei-tachi maioriru._

_…_

**v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v**

Geoffrey: Next time on the Kingdom Hearts Anime Mix: Tales of the Final Heart – The Shadow Arc, **Chapter 02: Seeking Out the Truth of the Shadows**. 'Things are only going to get crazier from this point on…'


End file.
